Super and subsonic vaneless nozzle



United States Patent t' 1 2944,36 fsnrnn sUsoNrovANEnEss NozzLE4 Piercer. Angeli, Euclid, `Imbert 3J. Andemmwrckutre,

Tand'1\@ elieolmMeHerner,Vlillonghby Ollie, aSSigmrS, v-to AThompson Ramo Wooldridge"Inc., a-corporation Iof Ohio Y Filed Qet..`15 T1953; SengNo. 386,358 l claims. keines-155) .The Presentnventien 'relates-te the eenetruetionnef a -tnrbine'for operation .at `peripheral velocities ralltoye'the having an inlet fluid velocity'less thanithe'spcedof sound Y and aitu'rbine :Wheel vjhaving a `peripheral velocityl rgreater "thellthe Speed Q f Sound, 'the tfferenee in velOCity' P being accomplished in a novel vaneless nozzle.

The `operation 0f equipment at 1er, aberethe'speedof Vsound has vposed many extremely difficult:` problems, j @ne of the most important of'these results fr orn'the difgicnlty of passing, a compressible iiuid through thejsound barrier,

orin other Words through the speed ofsound, Without f Ycausing 'shock waves and 'other-similar undesirable jiiow patterns, '-In vthe usual installations uof Whichiwe .are aware, Vv anes and similar iiow directing aprraaratus 'have 'been'used. VWhen a gaseousfluidisforcedthroughthe nspeed 'ofl soun'dj in` thepresence o'f such v anes V`for fbla'des, fr

yvarious flow :separation and shock patterns VVarejset4` np which greatly hinder efticientoperation. Y

The `problem has :become 4aggravated 2in recent years due-'to theefact that manyeofztheemodern day turbineinystallationsrelate toaircraft construction. iFor eX-ample; in

nism'be capable of operation throughout Lboth the subsonicandnsupersonic range :and it is vtherefore Vof course `desiraljrle "that it operate e'iiently in both ranges. 'By the present apparatus ,applicants Lhave provided a kvdrive `syste'm'which will operate 'from a rsub'sonic velocityV or from a snpersonic velocity Without the presencelt'if-.un 'desirableshock fronts orothersirnilar disturbances usualj 1y ufound in equipmentrdesigned l for supersonic operation and using blading for control ofthe luidiiow. Y

y 'Theturbine `of thepresent invention provides ahous'ing Ywhich will hereinafter be itermed '-a vanelessjnozzle vAir-Which is introduced at the `inlet is, thrOughthecOnelimination of all flow tionships lRC@ an accessory drive turbine in which inlet'air travelingrlse-y `low the speed of..sound1producesaperipheral velocity at the turbine Virnpeller abovezthe ,speed of sound without a n drop in eiciency due toshockcongurations or `flovv n. separations.,A l v a t Y 'n -Yet-another object of the presentinvention isto provide asimple supersonic turbine using a minimum of bladingV and hence requiring a minimum ofexpenseV A .feature of v the .present invention is .the complete Another important feature@ of the present 'invention is Athe'provision of atu'rbineinlet controlcapable ofireduc- "ngtheguantity of inletffluid Withfavrninimumf undesirable throttling action.

Another object of the present invention 'is to .provide Yanf apparatusgior vthe eifieient transforrnationY of lnlet Y velocities below the lspeedof sound into turbine-.;uid

velocities abovejthe speed of sound.

gSti/ll vother, and further objects .ofthe ,presentlinvention `Will atoncehecome apparenttothoseskilledin the .art frorn a` consideration of the following attached drawings and'following 'description relating thereto.

llnthedrawings:

Pigurell is a side elevational vieW vof ,aturbinercon structed according tothepresent invention;

, ':Figure J2 is a cross sectional -View takenalong the.line IIIe-*I LofjFigure l;

' yFigure Vis aside elevational view `in partial crosssecktion showing a modied Aform ofa turbine constructed according .tothe Vpresent invention; Y

Figure 4' is another modified form of the'invention; Figure 5 is still a further modied form of the 'inventiong and Figure 6 is a vector Vtliagram showing uid flow rela- As. shown in the Vdravvings: y

,Asis Vs eenfrom Figures l and k2 Va turbine wheel f1 is 'supported'for rotation upon theshaft 2 within ,the vaneliess'l nozzle 3. Thef blades 4 on the turbine Wheel`1 are,

in the present instance, shown as being radially vdirected land are shaped as shown in Figure Zto discharge air vmovingraidially inwardlyyalong the axis of'said shaft'Z.

The vouter nozzle v3 Ais provided with an inlet 5 vwhich rsupplies workingfluidetangentiallyv of the housing.` The :outer periphery of the housing `takes theform of-the logarithmic spiral Vand is' shown in the drawings as-providing a volute reducing'in 'diameter in one revolution'approximately'equal-to the "diameterof the inlet'. Y

` At thethroat 6 ofthe'inIet 5, Va v vane 7 is "pivotally v lmounted onarotating elements. The vane'7fis of'sustruction 4of the present invention, directedrinwardly at the proper angle against the turbine blades without the use offblades of any form` and at'the same time is passed through the speed of vsound `Without serious loss of efii'ciency.

iltis therefore lan object ofthe present "invention to provide a turbine capable Aof operation eiiiciently Iatlboth .suband supersonic uid inletspeeds. i

3Sti1l another object of the present Yinventionviszto provide a `turbine utilizing Ya vanelessfnozzle.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide Icient length'to' completely close off the throat of' the `ri11- vlet 6 when pivoted counterclockwise about; tl1e `pivot ele-V ment 8 land isecapab1e `of-providing unrestricted, flow when ein' its-furthermost clockwise position indicated VVin `the dotted/lines of Figure Ll. Any conventionallinkagemay be used toadjurst pivot '8 to vary theposition of vane7.v

' v Consideration of` the operational theory ofY the vabove described turbine shows -that'cornpressible iiuid entering in the direction of the arrow at the inlet 5 will pass ci'r-y cumferentially clockwise around the turbine housing 1 and also simultaneously will move radially inwardly tov Y-Ward vthe center `of the housing vinto contact -.with the turbine --Wheel 1. VThe radiallyinward movement Vfis caused by theshape of the housing 3 in -a spiral of -constantly decreasing radius'with a rdischarge attthecenter.

The Veiect of thedecreasing radinsis'to-increa'se the vactual'.velocity of the Vparticlesfof fluid as the particles Yapproach the turbine wheel blades l-4. "This V will be realizedlwhen itisunderstoodthat according to laws sof physics,V the :angular momentum vof4 a particle .-Willfremain constant and also that flow radially inwardly tolatenten ruime, raso directing blading in Y the `,turbine nozzle. n

ward an aperture (which flow is termed sink in the fields of aero and uid dynamics) bears the relationship Vrr=K or in other words that the velocity of movement toward the central, aperture increases inversely as the radius. Y Y A 'Y l Since angular momentum remains constant,'exclusive of f-rictional forces, it may be stated that Iw=K Where I is the moment of inertial of the rotating mass and w equals its angular velocity or velocity of rotation. I, the moment of inertia of an object may be stated as I=2m2 which is' the summation of the particles of mass of the object times their distances from the center of rotation. Sincetrw equals the linear tangential velocity (Vs) it is clear that Vsr is also equal to a constant. This results in a situation in which as each particle of the gas moves Vinwardly its radial velocity is increased as the radius is decreasedunder the laws of sink and at the same time its tangential velocity is increased proportionately as the radius is decreased.

These two factors combine to provide a vortex flow shown in Figure 6 in which each individual particle moving around the center at an ever decreasing radius has a constantly increasing velocity. This velocity has been found to be substantially the vectorial sum of the tangential velocity (VS) and the radial velocity (Vr) and it has been noted that where the side walls of the housing 3 are parallel from the outer periphery to the inner periphery that this resultant velocity will act at a constant angle to a radius line drawn through the center of the housing and the particle, throughout its travel.

This angle is the eective angle of travel of the particle and is the Yangle at which the particle necessarily will strike the turbine blades 4 as it moves from the housing into the turbine wheel 1. For this reason this angle will hereinafter be termed the nozzle angle 0 and it may be seen that Vf tan 0: V' y A consideration of the relationships above discussed clearly indicates that no control over the quantity Vs may be exercised without introducing suicient friction to absorb a large amount of energy, thereby changing the relationship Vsr equals a constant. i Since it is extremely undesirable to introduce friction or other similar energy absorbing elements into the system some Aother manner of controlling the nozzle angle must be devised. In the present instance this has been accomplished by varying the radial velocity component Vr. This may be accomplished by requiring the gas or liuid to pass ,through radially constricting walls toward the nozzle outlet or sink. By constricting the outlet at 9 to a value substantially less than the linear measurement of the axial Wall 16 of the housing 3, the velocity Vr will increase at a greater rate as it approaches the center of the housing than as if parallel Walls were provided. The relationship betweenthe restriction and the increase in the quantity VrY depends, of course, on the configuration of the restricted'outlet but it has been found that a restriction of the inner peripheral outlet 9 to a dimension approximately one fourth that of the outer peripheral wall 10 will increase the velocity at the point of the inner peripheral discharge outlet 9 to approximately four times its value if the side walls 11 and 12 had remained parallel throughout.

In this manner it' is possible to vary the effective nozzle angle 0 Without serious loss of energy. As the gas particles move around the periphery they gradually begin to move inwardly under the inuence of the spiral casing `toward the outlet 9 at the inner periphery and as they ymove 'toward the inner periphery at a rate greater than the change in radius their radial velocity increases due to the constriction. Therefore the factor and with it the nozzle angle 0, increases as the particles move toward the inner periphery. Y

It has been found through experience that an effective nozzle angle of approximately 16 proves very satisfactory in the ordinary vaned type of turbine in which the gases are directed at the turbine blades by means of guide vanes set in the casing `at an angle which will control the flow to the desired extent. This effective nozzle angle has been achieved without the use of vanes in providing appropriate control of the degree'of divergence of the turbine casing Walls. Thus applicants have managed to retain complete control of the ow of the motive fluid without the need for ow controlling vanes.

This elimination of the vanes as discussed above has permitted the elhcient use of applicants turbine with mo- Vtive fluids entering the turbine system at slightly below supersonic velocities and in which it is desired to provide a supersonic peripheral velocity yat the turbine wheel. In view of the absence of vaning or other mechanical elements in the turbine housing, turbulence and shock coniigurations have been reduced to an absolute minimum thereby increasing the overall eiciency of the system.

It is of course to be understood that the scope of the present invention comprehends the changing of the degree of convergence or divergence of the turbine housing walls Yto vary the effective nozzle angle through control of the velocity of sink, Vr. It will be apparent from a consideration :of the above discussion that the elfective nozzle angle in the vaneless -turbine herein proposed for use with supersonic iiuid will be Variable according to only the divergence of the casing walls in a frictionless system. Due to frictional forces involved in actual turbine systems, there will in actuality, be a slight loss of energy in the tangential direction which will cause a decrease'in the effective Vs. There will of course also be a slight friction loss inthe component Vr. Since the fluid actually travels over a far shorter radial path than it does in a circumferential path, the friction losses relative to the factor Vr are substantially less than those effecting VB. Therefore the friction losses, generally termed skin friction, will have a net affect of increasing the effective nozzle angle 0 slightly.

In actual practice skin friction values may readily be' Y tion. Having once determined the desired nozzle-angle and the convergence of the casing walls, these factors will remain constant for any values of the inlet velocity and will not be affected by passage of the motive uid from a subsonic velocity to a supersonic velocity within the turbine.

Control of the power output of the turbine may be had by varying the quantity of inlet motive fluid. Several meansrmay be utilized for this, one of'which is, of course, the commonly known method of reducing the However, such a simple line throttling process is undesirable since it introduces a loss of energy resulting from the uncontrolled expansion of the motive uid leaving the line constriction. This expansion permits the reduced por- Vtionrof the'motive uid passing through the restriction to expand freely to the volume of the inlet conduit on the downstream side of the constriction. In this expansion, no work is performed and hence the throttling action provides a loss of a substantial amount of energy.

By the present invention, applicants have provided a method of controlling the inlet (flow to the supersonic,

be found in Figure 4.

:15', 16 and 17 also extend generally longitudinally of @ratsam-zen vaneless nozzle `which Vwill vapproximate the :optimum thermodynamic. reduction. of ,power obtained in awariable -area nozzle. This is.accomplishedvbyjmeans ofthe controll vane 7 positioned -as indicatedat 8 in the turbine v thereof on its second turn around the turbine housing.

which will also provide a streamlined inlet flow condi-V In that gure a plurality of vanes 15, 16and'17 tion. have been shown as being pivoted at 18, 19 and 20 and extending generally longitudinally of the flow inlet. By

controlling the relative positioning ofthe vanes 15, 16y and 17, the direction of flow emanating from the endvof i6 "zIn view ofathe;substantially.y direct relationshipbetween radius and relative-.velocityofrthej inletuid,i iti is apparent that the'presentturbine maybe' constructed ton provide different tir-bine speeds fromaspecified-inletfvelocity by a modiiicationigf the radius -ratio. By-:this is meant the ratio of the radius of the'inletflowfrelative to the radius fof the inner -periphery oroutletl-of'the nozzlefor the router periphery ofthe-turbine element. Since the velocity ofthe motivegiiuid-increases rasth'eradius decreases a greater increase in velocity from an initial fluid velocity may be achieved through a change in turbine 'construction which either reduces the diameter of the turbine element or increases the outside diameter of the housing or inlet radius.

In this connection it is noted that it has been found that where the inlet radius bears an effective value of 1.5 and the radius of the turbine element a value of .75 an increase in tangential velocity from an inlet velocity Vs the function of an efficient nozzle, applicants have been the vanes may be controlled. Thus the radially outward component caused by a single vane such as 7 can be substantially reduced by sequentially closing vanes 15, 16k

This construction aids in the prevention of turbulence and permits a more streamlined ow of the motive fluid aiding its merger with the second lap of uid stream at or adjacent to the downstream side of the inlet vanes.

A'further modification of the inlet vane structure may the tlow inlet but their points of pivoting, namely 18', 19 and 20 are moved slightly peripherally downstream from one another. As in the case of the modification shown in .the solid lines of Figure 3, the vanes 15', 16' and 17. are closed sequentially in that order. This permits a gradual reduction of the air stream around the periphery of the turbine to a greater extent than is permitted when a single flat vane is utilized and hence Vpermits a more.

gradual merger of the reduced motive fluid stream with the fluid moving about on the second lap immediately radially inward `of lthe vanes.

Figure 5 shows a vaneless'nozzle constructed accord# Y ing to the present invention and in which a sliding valve plate is used. Due to the slightly different arcs used in the outer wall of the casing 3 and the valve plate 27,

the valve plate will, when inserted into the slotv28, causeV In this arrangement, the vanes vl5 able to operate at turbine peripheral velocities greater than the speed of sound without the usual losses resulting from-shocks and turbulence generally associated withrthe passage of air through the speed of sound. By the Yuse of the substantially non-throttling inlet vane in combination with, a vaneless turbine nozzle, the subsonic or supersonic velocities at the inlet of the turbine are changed to supersonic velocities with substantial streamline ilow. Applicants have thus been able to provide an extremely eliicient turbine adapted to provide supersonic turbine wheel velocities in a simple manner and by utilizing an extremely rugged structure requiring an absolute minimum of relatively fragile elements such as vanes.

It is to be understood that modifications and variations may be constructed according to the present invention without departing from the concepts of the present invention.

We claim asrour invention:

1. A turbine having a wheel for operation at peripheral velocities above the speed ofsound comprising a vaneless nozzle completely encircling said wheel and having a vaneless inner peripheral outlet facing said wheel and extending 360 around the periphery of said wheel, said nozzle having radially extending side walls and an outer Vperipheral wall progressively closer to the periphery of said wheel in the general form of a logarithmic spiral, said nozzle having a tangential inlet in its outer peripheral wall introducing iiuid tangentially thereof, the radial dimension of said sidewalls beingV at least as great as the radial dimension of the inlet for at least 360 from the inlet, said nozzle having its side walls converging toward the inner peripheral outlet at a rate constant throughout the periphery of the inner peripheral outlet, and means .f introducing Huid at said inlet at a velocity at or slightly It is to be noted that all of the` above modifications o of the inlet vane structure provide a substantial increaseY below the velocity of sound.

2. .A supersonic vaneless nozzle constructed in the form Y of a logarithmic spiral, said nozzle having a tangential inletat its outer periphery andA a vaneless radially inwardly directed outlet at its inner periphery, said nozzle having radially extending side walls the radial dimensions of which are at least as great as they radial dimension of the inlet for at least 360 of tluid turn from the trol vanel mounted adjacent said inlet at a point on the' nozzle radially inwardly of the inlet and movable toward the outer periphery of .the Vnozzle to reduce the area of the inlet while maintaining the ow of inlet fluid adja- 2,613,609 Buchi Oct. 14, 1952 cent the outer periphery of the nozzle. l 2,652,191 Buchi Sept. 15, 1953 Y Y 2,715,814 Barr` Aug. 23, 1955 References Cited in the le of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS Austria May 25, 1951 Germany Sept. 5, 1921 Germany Dec. 2l, 1926 Canada July 3, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,386,548 Blackmon Aug. 2, 1921 1,445,310 1,548,341

Hall Feb 13, 1923 Banki Aug. 4, 1925 

